According to a Kotaku Australia report, the R18+ ratings bill has hit a slight snag in the Australia Parliament. According to a tweet from Ed Husic, MP for Chifley, the Coalition government has asked that the R18+ bill be sent for an inquiry. Under the rules, if one MP calls for an inquiry on a proposed bill, it must undergo further scrutiny by a Standing Committee. About 30 percent of bills face this kind of extra scrutiny, but these meetings are done in an expedient fashion to avoid delaying the vote on the legislation.

Husic complained about the inquiry, saying that he was shocked that the bill needed this kind of extra scrutiny after being in the public eye for so long already.

"I’m just flabbergasted that after 10 years this has been pushed to an inquiry," he said. "Everyone is in support, people have basically spoken. We’re ready to get this done. It only takes one person to do this and you lose time."

Husic suggested that this could be an attempt by the Coalition government to hold up the R18+ legislation or kill it off entirely, though he admitted that he wasn't sure what the motivation is for the extra examination.

"The Coalition hasn’t indicated what they’ll do yet," he said. "But I’ve spoken to Independents, and tried to make it clear that this is an issue that’s been going on for years."

"People will want to move quickly," he added. "It could be one day enquiry and get it over and done with, the committee may just refer it straight back."

Husic said if citizens want to move this process along, they "should make their voices heard on the issue." We will continue to follow this story as it develops.

Comments

The worst part about this entire thing (and also why the damn bill was never passed years ago) was because it only takes one person to start these inquiries or to screw the bill over completely. There's no "majority rules".